Humber Boy B by Ruth Dugdall

Anna, but they have to be apart because one has got this secret, this bad thing that if she tells anyone they’ll just… well, I don’t know what, because when she does tell it’s actually okay. But it’s sad, because the sisters can’t play together, but then one sister decides to sort it out. Anyway, I don’t know what happens in Frozen 2 but it’s got to be brilliant. Please say I can go?”
    Cate smiled at her daughter, whose face was twisted in earnest concentration as she tried to remember the details of the film. “Okay, I like the sound of that. I’ll come too. We can sing that song again in the car.”
    Now Amelia looked panicked, a frown formed between her eyebrows, marking her perfect face with worry. “Sally’s going to be there, Mum.”
    “Oh.” Being civil with Tim’s second wife was one thing, sharing popcorn with her was quite another. Much as Cate liked the sound of two sisters sorting out their differences, she’d have to take a rain check. “Sounds like I’ll have to skip on it then, even though I’d enjoy the snow.”
    Amelia’s face showed her emotions swing from relief to concern. “But what about me? Please, Mum. Can I go?”
    Cate gave in, keeping Amelia at home would be selfish. “Okay, sweetheart. Call your dad and say yes.”
    As Amelia rushed to the phone, excited and happy, Cate thought of what she would do with her Sunday now. Something had changed for her, spending the last few days immersed in Ben’s casefile, she had an urge to shake free of its weight, to do something daring. And that’s exactly what she was expecting Ben to do, she was asking him to live again, to work, to find some pleasure in life. Yet she was trapped, as trapped by her divorce as she had been when Tim first left. And Amelia, who had once been all hers, was breaking away, making choices about how to spend her time. Cate needed to take a risk. And she had an idea in mind.
    She felt in her bag for her phone, and scrolled down her emails. Dare she reply to Olivier? His email had remained unanswered for three days. She sent one line into the ether: I’m free to meet up today, if your offer still stands?
    Amelia was singing as she slipped on her coat, Tim was outside in the car, where he tended to wait these days now that he had so little to say to Cate that couldn’t be communicated via text message. Cate waved her daughter off and forced herself to get a glass of water, all stalling tactics, before she finally returned to her phone to see if Olivier had replied.
    Olivier: That took you a while to think about! So is this a work meeting? Or pleasure?
    Cate hesitated before responding, she had to push from her mind Tim’s steely face as he had driven their daughter away, the pain this doomed marriage had caused her. Fun, that was what she needed and Amelia’s talk of the snow in the 4D screening had given her an idea, but she wasn’t sure that Olivier would be up for it.
    Cate: That depends. Can you ski?
    Olivier: In September? Are we catching a plane?
    It wasn’t Cate’s first visit to the Ipswich ski slope, Amelia had her last birthday party here and had a great afternoon ringoing down the slope. She hadn’t joined in herself, too busy setting out cake and sandwiches in the picnic area. But now she wanted to try.
    “What is this?” Olivier asked, looking at the inflated plastic tube as if had landed from outer space. “Plastic hoops belong in swimming pools, not on a ski slope!” He placed the ring on the fake snow and then sat on it, it sagged beneath him, making him looking ridiculous. Cate laughed so hard she had to catch her breath. His beige jeans were too smart, his long sleeved shirt too fitted for the trip, but she enjoyed this spectacle, and his awkwardness as they queued with a line of youngsters waiting to whizz down the slope in a wet, slippery heap. Maybe the French didn’t do ‘casual’.
    Olivier was first to ringo down the hill, much to the disgust of the serious skiers who